Aaron Rodgers, Packers pick apart Vikings in playoffs

Jan. 6, 2013
|

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers rolls out of the pocket to pass in the second quarter of the NFC wild-card playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field. / Andrew Weber, USA TODAY Sports

by Lindsay H Jones, USA TODAY Sports

by Lindsay H Jones, USA TODAY Sports

All Rodgers did for the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night in a 24-10 wild-card round win against the Minnesota Vikings was provide yet another reminder of that no matter how good your running back is, no matter what happened in previous games â?? even as recently as six days ago â?? when it comes to the NFL playoffs, a team is only as good as its quarterback.

Amid the focus Saturday on Minnesota quarterback Christian Ponder's injured triceps and elbow, and with the dismal passing performance by backup Joe Webb, Rodgers methodically and efficiently earned the first home playoff win of his career, and with it, a divisional round date next week against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park.

It will mark the first time Rodgers plays a meaningful NFL game in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he played in college at the University of California. Rodgers' hometown of Chico is less than 200 miles away. And then there is the ever present draft-day-snub story line that will follow Rodgers every time he plays the 49ers for the rest of his career.

Rodgers frequently downplays the quarterback-vs.-quarterback matchups, but with Webb playing opposite Rodgers on Saturday night at Lambeau Field, it hardly seemed fair. The Packers will face another quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, in his first postseason start next week. The other three remaining NFC teams are quarterbacked by two rookies (the Washington Redskins' Robert Griffin III and Seattle Seahawks' Russell Wilson) and a veteran without a playoff win (the Atlanta Falcons' Matt Ryan).

"I feel like we have the best quarterback in the league, let alone the NFC," Green Bay receiver James Jones said. "It always falls back on him, and we're only going to go as far as his right arm takes us. If we play good defense and make plays for him on offense on the outside, we'll be fine."

Ponder, who played the best game of his career six days ago in Minnesota's 37-34 win against Green Bay, wasn't ruled out of Saturday's game until 90 minutes before kickoff, and Webb learned he would be starting not much before that. Ponder threw about a dozen warm-up throws three hours before kickoff, but a deep bruise in his triceps (an injury sustained in the second quarter last weekend) was too limiting. Ponder had thrown little during the week, but until Saturday morning, he and team officials remained optimistic he would be able to play in Minnesota's first playoff game since the 2009 season.

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier personally told Webb he would start before Webb returned to the field for a second set of early warm-ups.

The Packers realized the quarterback switch from the NBC broadcast of the AFC wild-card playoff game that was airing on televisions in the locker room. Green Bay players and coaches were aware Ponder had been listed as questionable but few expected him to actually sit out.

The switch didn't alter Green Bay's defensive game plan, defensive back Charles Woodson said. If anything, it allowed Green Bay to focus even more on running back Adrian Peterson, who had rushed for 409 yards in the Packers two previous games, including 199 last week in the regular-season finale.

"We understand that it's all about Adrian Peterson," Woodson said. "If you stop him, you have a good chance of beating that team. No Percy Harvin. We're not worried about a quarterback change."

Webb proved elusive as a scrambler (68 yards on seven carries) but appeared lost as a passer. Webb completed only 11 of 30 throws for 180 yards, threw one interception and lost a fumble on a sack by Clay Matthews. He threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins with less than four minutes remaining.

Most of Minnesota's success with Webb came on the opening drive, a possession in which the Vikings called six consecutive running plays, including three using the read-option. The drive stalled when Webb's first passing attempt, on a third-down, fell incomplete, and the Vikings didn't consistently use the read-option again.

"It was successful. It was working," Webb said. "I wouldn't say it wasn't working. But that's Coach (Bill) Musgrave's decision. If he wanted to go another route, then I was all for it."

Webb's issues left little room for Peterson, who had 69 yards through three quarters, at which point the Vikings already trailed 24-3. He picked up his final 30 yards in the fourth quarter.

"They wanted to make a statement," Rodgers said of Green Bay's defense. "That statement might have been less rushing yards for Peterson. He still had almost 100, but it wasn't the same kind of impact that he's had in the last couple games."

Saturday's win made for a confident Packers team that heads to San Francisco to play a team that looks significantly different than when the two teams played at Lambeau Field on Sept. 9. San Francisco won that game 30-22, in a game quarterbacked by Alex Smith (the player the 49ers drafted No. 1 in 2005 instead of Rodgers) and not Kaepernick, an athletic, big-armed second-year player Green Bay players said Saturday reminds them a bit of Webb.

"We're always trying to look ahead, and it was a great warm-up for what we're probably going to experience out there with Kaepernick, so thanks to the Vikings for giving our defense a good look," Packers receiver Greg Jennings said.